So, what is Instagram Stories all about?

Basically, it allows users to share photos and videos with their followers in a way that is extremely similar to Snapchat. Instagram users can now upload photos and 10 second videos, post them to their story and can even add text, drawings and emojis! And just like Snapchat, these “Instagram Stories” disappear after 24 hours. While Instagram Stories are not quite as advanced as Snapchat in terms of its customisation with geofilters, stickers and interactive lenses, Instagram Stories are incredibly easy to use and most definitely encourages engagement with the content!

It’s very clear to me that brand’s need to be ready to embrace this change – it’s a bold move but I can already see it becoming a daily part of my social media activity! Social media users are going to either shift some of their attention to Instagram Stories (meaning this spike in interaction with Instagram is a great opportunity for brands) or will spend more time on Snapchat and Twitter giving out about Facebook trying to copy Snapchat!

The challenge for brands includes:

• How do we create more content for yet another platform
• Where do we invest our time/content for best ROI
• How do we get our brand content into the top 5 stories on Instagram
• Will it be possible to promote content on Instagram Stories to ensure visibility? (I would put money on this by the way!)

It will be interesting to see how users respond, switch or remain within both platforms, and how brands would respond. Interesting to see if Instagram Stories eventually become a separate app (the way that Facebook Messenger broke from the pack) to directly compete with Snapchat?

Whether it’s Instagram or Snapchat stories, one thing’s for sure… this story between Facebook/Instagram and Snapchat is definitely one to watch!

The post What’s the story with Instagram Stories? appeared first on Aoife Rigney Digital Marketing.

So, how does it work?

For businesses: All you have to do is tweet your offer, products, Christmas gift ideas or special promotion details to me @aoiferigney and use the hashtag #CorkChristmas too. Then, you will be included in my Cork Christmas Gift Guide (which will be below) and also generate a bit of a buzz on twitter too! There is no fee for being listed.

For customers: You will find the most amazing Christmas gift ideas right here in Cork. By purchasing from a local business you will help keep our local economy growing as well as support jobs along the way! So, what are you waiting for… spread the #CorkChristmas cheer and get shopping!

So, calling all Corkonians – let’s support local this Christmas!

Tweet with #CorkChristmas to spread the word!

#CorkChristmas - Christmas Gift Guide from Cork

The post #CorkChristmas the Christmas Gift Guide from Cork appeared first on Aoife Rigney Digital Marketing.

Every business must produce and add original content to both website and social media accounts as part of their digital marketing strategy.

Content is an integral part of every digital marketing strategy. Social media marketing requires fresh, engaging content on a regular basis.

However, producing, publishing and promoting your content isn’t always easy. In fact, it is often one of the biggest challenges for businesses. It’s so important that businesses create original, shareworthy ideas and then market your content in order to encourage fans and followers to interact with your brand regularly. Creating and finding content to post on social media platforms can be incredibly challenging. It can be extremely frustrating when you can’t think of something clever, witty or engaging. It happens to the best of us!

So, how does a business post new, fresh and engaging content? Here are some Social Media Content Ideas for any business:

Facebook 

The most popular posts on Facebook are often photos. Taking good photos of products, location and your brand is a key element of your social media strategy. However, it’s a good idea to source photos from around the web too – just be sure to credit the owner!

1. Topical News – is there something trending online? What’s popular at the moment? Is it possible that you can use this news and keep it in relation to your brand and in line with your strategy?
2. Ask a question or fill in the blanks – post something leading and ask your fans to answer or fill in a missing word. This can lead to super interaction however caution is required as it should only be used occasionally.
3. Quotes and Motivation – sharing quotes as images are a fantastic way to encourage interaction on your Facebook posts.
4. Throwback Thursdays and FlashbackFridays are popular, fun posts on Facebook – find old photos of you, your company, the year your business was established and so on.
5. Behind the scenes – let your fans into your world. Share snaps of staff in their office, store room, shop floor, stocking shelves etc. Snap a picture of new delivers, new shipments, new products arriving or even new staff members – keep fans in the loop! By letting fans have a “sneak peek” they will have increased loyalty to your brand.
6. Event photos - If you have a special event or launch, create a photo album that talks about the event complete with preparation photos, live event updates and the aftermath. Make sure to encourage people to tag themselves in your photos.

Twitter

The key to twitter is writing something short, sweet and with a hook. It can be a great tool for building relationships and providing customer service and after sales support. Twitter can be used to build a buzz around events, promotions, product launches and new employee appointments – and so much more!

1. Facts, figures and statistics – try combining something factual with an article which backs it up and provides more information.
2. Ask a question – encourage people to reply to your question… then keep the conversation flowing!
3. Quotes and Motivation – sharing quotes on Twitter is a great way to encourage retweets and interactions. Don’t forget to keep the quote to less than 100 characters (if possible) so people can retweet and add a comment.
4. Topical News – is there something trending online? What’s popular at the moment? Is it possible that you can use this news and keep it in relation to your brand and in line with your strategy?
5. Expert Opinion – comment on current affairs in the industry your business is part of, share top tips and insights and share engaging content in relation to your industry.
6. Hashtags – don’t forget to use hashtags to your advantage. Join a twitter chat, talk about something that is trending or even use your own unique hashtag for your event to build buzz and awareness.Many of these engaging content ideas can be used for multiple platforms. However, remember not to automatically post the same message on every platform. While it’s ok to share the same content, but make sure you edit each message to suit each specific platform. Never automatically post content from Twitter to Facebook and vice versa.

   Remember, the key to any social media strategy is to post engaging content that your target market will find engaging in order to make a sale. After all, we’re all using social media to sell stuff, right?

The post Social Media Content Ideas for every business appeared first on Aoife Rigney Digital Marketing.

If this amount of content is being shared on Facebook, how will YOUR customers see YOUR content in the busy timeline of information i.e. their newsfeed?

While it’s somewhat entertaining to see the amount of activity in a very short space of time, it’s also important for businesses to note. The content we add to the busy newsfeed needs to stand-out, engage, entertain and inform.

Do you have a content strategy? You need one!

The post What happens in a Facebook minute? appeared first on Aoife Rigney Digital Marketing.

It’s important to outline your marketing goals from the outset. Some marketing goals include generating leads, increasing sales, improving customer retention, and growing your business.

Social media isn’t an isolated “thing”. It should help you accomplish all of these goals. But if you don’t have a social media strategy, then you’ll have an “active” social media account and little else to show for it.

Here are some social marketing tips you can use to help grow your business.

1. Answer the Why:  Why are you blogging? Why are you on Twitter? Why are you using social media? Here are the answers you are probably thinking of right now:
   (a) increase brand awareness by growing your reach
   (b) build customer loyalty by providing more support
   (c) increase sales by getting more people to purchase, more frequently.
   If you can’t answer the why, then don’t even start your social media activity!

2. Ignore Your Competition: Trying to benchmark other people’s amount of Fans and Followers is silly and frankly just egotistical. You’ll start making bad decisions because you’re trying to “keep up”. The best tactical ideas and campaigns haven’t happened in your industry yet. So set out your social media strategy to figure out what new, untapped opportunities you can seize and gain an early lead. Look at what businesses are doing in other industries and try to experiment with similar tactics.
3. Don’t Be on Every Social Network: Community management will drain all of your resources, especially if you don’t have marketing departments like larger companies might have. Contrary to popular belief, social media isn’t free! Each social network you manage will cost you exponentially more time, money and energy. It takes tremendous resources to do it properly, and has an enormous opportunity cost. So prioritise one or two networks and focus on strategically developing these.
4. Be Effective: Social media is wonderful, but people confuse busyness with effectiveness. Start with a goal, reverse engineer how you’re going to reach that goal, identify your highest activities, prioritise and set deadlines, be disciplined and accountable. Be effective.
5. Be a Publisher: Digital marketing can’t exist without content. No SEO. No email marketing. No social media. That means you’re in the media business. So you better start learning how to create valuable content. Create content, provide expertise, or use adverts to put yourself in front of communities of people – and give them the chance to find you.
6. Ignore Trends: Trends are like waves in the ocean, they come and they go. Pinterest might work for some businesses. But for others, it’s a waste of time. For your business, it probably has the wrong kind of traffic, not enough users, and a demographic mismatch. Instead, focus and invest in the fundamentals – like your blog, email marketing and your main social media accounts.
7. Create a voice: People don’t want to connect with faceless corporations. They want to connect with real humans. But a lot of companies still don’t understand this. No one will like, trust or respect your company in the long run if they can’t talk to a human, in a timely manner.
8. Stand out from the crowd:  Why are you in business? Why are you using social media? People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. Think about the special companies that you like and admire. They start with “Why”. They tap into a bigger cause than themselves, and that emotionally connects with people. If you only sell “What” you do, then you’re going to be stuck selling commodities and you’ll always compete on price. Answer the why!
9. Send an email: Simply put… Email marketing is still the most profitable online marketing channel. 
10. People Talking About You: Facebook’s EdgeRank was designed to keep companies from spamming their “fans”. So, it only allows you to reach the fans that actively engage with your brand. “People Talking About This” is the closest metric you have to increase your “viral reach”. The higher that number goes, the better chance you have of reaching more people. And the bigger your page will grow because you’ll start reaching more “friends of fans”. Get people talking about you – get them liking, commenting and generally interacting with your Page.

Social media is much more than “engaging in the conversation”. It’s a new way of doing things, and a new set of tools to help you do it. But the same marketing fundamentals apply. You need to gain attention, build trust, and keep people engaged longer.

Because in addition to growing your “social media presence”, you’ll also be able to get more traffic, bring in more leads and create more happy customers.

Be a social business, not just a business that uses social media!

The post Ten simple but effective ways to enhance your social media marketing appeared first on Aoife Rigney Digital Marketing.

App Requests 

So you might enjoy running an imaginary online farm or café, but believe it or not people have real farms and cafés to run and are fed up receiving your regular app requests! Unless you have discussed in detail your love for Farmville with a fellow Facebook friend we advise you to avoid sending those app requests. You might be only asking them to be your neighbour on a virtual plot of farming land but the reality is almost everyone hates app requests.

Cryptic Status Updates

We’ve all been guilty of it at some stage and we can all spot a Cryptic Status Updater a mile off. It begins with an open ended statement suggesting the person is happy, angry or sad but does not disclose the crucial details, prompting others to ask a series of questions to find out what happened. At the end of the day we all want to know what happened, but the majority of us are slow to ask and will wait for someone else to come along, spot the status and take the bait!

Adding To Random Groups

It’s no secret that Facebook is a great way to bring people together, old friends from school or members of a GAA club but when a group chat is used to round up as many people as possible and ask them to do something, people get annoyed. People who create these groups generally have good intentions and want to reach as many people as possible with their endeavour but the reality is we don’t want to receive 150 notifications from this group chat and by the time we have scrolled all the way back to the start to find out what it is about we are not in a very charitable mood and are simply bored and frustrated!

The Relationship Update(s)

Don’t get us wrong, we are very happy for you and your new found happiness, but we are not however fans of receiving an update every time there is a smile, a present, dinner or a trip to the cinema. Remember your Facebook friends list comprises of family, friends, friend’s family members, co-workers, friends of friends and strangers who simply want to be your friend on Facebook and don’t want a subscription service to your relationship.

Share if you know someone guilty of any of the above!

The post 4 Most Annoying Facebook Habits We Are All Guilty Of appeared first on Aoife Rigney Digital Marketing.

• Twitter Header Image: Instead of the header photos located behind the profile picture and bio description like before, they are now located at the top and fill the length of the screen. Just like a cover photo on Facebook! In order to create a good quality header image, it’s important to note that this new size is 1500 pixels. To add a new header image, simply upload your image as before.  Go to profile, click edit profile and you will be prompted to upload/change header image. It’s very important that businesses use this space cleverly with branding, images and key messages.
• Profile Picture: The profile picture is now much larger for new profiles. The new Twitter profile picture dimensions are now 400 x 400 pixels. It’s very important to make sure your image is properly formatted for the new layout. There is nothing worse than a business with a poor, low resolution, ill-fitted profile picture! As you can see in my screenshot above, it is no longer located in the middle of the page either! It is now on the top left and will be slightly overlapping the header image on the bottom left (something to remember when designing your new custom header image!). Luckily, if you already have a profile image – it has already been resized and fit to the larger dimensions by Twitter. It would be a good idea to review your images on Twitter. With the new Twitter profile layout  there are more customization options available, and you should probably change your images to compliment each other, and optimise this space.
• Popular Content: One of the biggest differences will be the importance placed on engagement for each post. Any post without any form of engagement such as a comment, re-tweet or favorite will be shown significantly smaller than a ‘popular’ post.

• Social media marketers will need to ensure that they are posting quality tweets in order to increase engagement on all of their posts since it will be obvious if a post was not ‘popular.’ See my tweets (screenshot on the left) which vary in popularity!Since tweeted photos will appear automatically in the newsfeed and will be larger, it is more important to find photos to tweet. Twitter’s new design is more visually appealing so we should be posting with that in mind!

• Pin a Tweet: Another feature on the new Twitter profile is ‘pinned’ tweets. If you had a great tweet that you want to have more exposure this can be ‘pinned’ to remain at the top of your page. The ‘pinned’ posts are similar to Facebook’s ‘Pin to Top’ option, which keeps a post at the top of the page for a week.  ‘Pinning’ will be great for brands running a campaign because instead of creating repeated tweets and risking annoying their followers they can circulate ‘pinned’ tweets for exposure. Even with this new profile redesign, when I click someone’s name to go to their profile, I still get a pop-up with their bio info — instead of being taken directly to their profile page. Nothing new there! Why do I need to visit a profile if I can find everything I need in that pop-up? I just wonder how many people actually click again to go through to someone’s profile? Will it make much difference if people are staying on the timeline for their news? It’s worth a try though!
• Other Updates to note: Along with the images adjustments, there are a few of the other notable updates to the Twitter layout.

• Your information (name, handle, bio, pictures, etc) are all located on the left of the page right below the profile picture.
• Who to Follow and Trends are now located along the right-hand side, just moved across the page.
• Your Tweets, Followers, and Following tabs are also now to the right of the profile picture.
• New to the tabs menu are Favorites and Photos/Videos. There is also a List drop-down tab with more options.

On the new Twitter profile, your tweets and content (the important part) take up most of the page. As before, they are listed vertically by date and you can scroll along like a regular news feed. You can now however, pin a tweet to stay at the top of your new twitter profile.

A more dramatic change however is when you click the Following or Followers tab, and view who is following you and who you are following. You no longer get the scrollable list. Now, you get a sort of Pinterest board look:

How will this new twitter profile really impact on brands?

I don’t think it will have a huge impact. It is important to update images so the twitter account looks well and has strong branding. However, 76% of Twitter users are on mobile. This update is on desktop only, and I am not sure that will attract people back to desktop (or if Twitter even want this to happen!) However, perhaps Twitter are testing this for a mobile roll-out too?

Will these changes affect *HOW* you use twitter as part of your social media strategy? Other than needing to update your header image… Not really.

With this new twitter profile update there seems to be a big focus on content, interaction and engagment. These profile changes won’t make your content more engaging nor will twitter become busier. In fact, most people won’t even notice the change!

My advice? Update your header image, be sure that your profile picture is still high resolution then carry on as normal. Of course, “normal” actually being very strategic as part of an overall digital marketing plan

So, lots of changes! I have to admit, I like the changes so far although the new Twitter profile layout is causing a mixed reaction! Here’s some reaction to the change on Twitter this morning:

Changed over to the new twitter profile for @themoviebit – Why does @twitter compress the hell outta the header image http://t.co/BT8ob2skbP

— Vic Barry (@victorbarry) April 23, 2014

Just love the new Twitter website profile design. And pinned posts https://t.co/yOwItlZdb4
— Neville Hobson (@jangles) April 23, 2014

@aoiferigney A little confusing when in use…. I think I may need to spend more time examining it.

— John Phayer (@JohnPhayer) April 23, 2014

@aoiferigney only use phone to tweet! New layout? Ah well
— Helen Bullock (@AnseoAMuinteoir) April 23, 2014

@aoiferigney I think it will be modified again shortly. It reduces what Twitter is, real-time publishing platform. Results no longer instant

— Kirsty McQuoid (@Promote_NI_SMEs) April 23, 2014

@aoiferigney New Twitter layout? I always use Tweetdeck or Tweetcaster so I never see the actual Twitter screen. Same for most people?
— John Finn (@carrigman) April 23, 2014

@aoiferigney I like it even though the damn thing chops off my head! Time for a new cover photo =) pic.twitter.com/RKVeNvmJml

— Cian O’Regan (@CianORegan) April 23, 2014

Got the new Twitter profile design. Not sure how I feel about it.

— Julie Ciaramella (@julieciaramella) April 23, 2014

The new Twitter profile page is…different. It’s going to take some time to get use to it!

— Megan Vier (@mrs___v) April 23, 2014

The post How will the New Twitter Profile Layout affect brands? appeared first on Aoife Rigney Digital Marketing.

Some websites running SSL encryption, such as Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Airbnb, Pinterest, among others, were exposed to a major security bug called Heartbleed on Monday. The bug was reportedly discovered by a member of Google’s security team. Heartbleed could be one of the biggest security threats the Internet has ever seen. If you have logged into any of the affected sites over the past two years, your account information could be compromised, allowing cybercriminals to snap up your credit card information or steal your passwords.

What effect/damage can it do?
The bug affects web servers running software such as Apache (among others), and it has the potential to expose private information users enter into websites, applications, web email and even instant messages.

And while most security experts advise that you always use websites and services offering SSL security encryption whenever possible, the Heartbleed bug has the ability to allow malicious operators to defeat this security layer and capture passwords as well as forge authentication cookies and obtain other private information.

A security patch for the bug was announced on Monday, but many websites are still playing catch up.

Which websites are affected?

Yahoo, Flikr, EventBrite, Scoop.it, USMagazine, RollingStone.com, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google, Gmail, Hotmail etc

*Some have since been fixed with security patch but be vigiliant.

If you own a website, be sure to get in touch with your web developer to make sure your website is up to date and secure. If you are a business who uses Facebook or Twitter be sure to change your password to protect your accounts.

3 things you can do to protect yourself

• Change your passwords (Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Amazon, EBay etc)
• For at least the next week, keep an eye on any of your sensitive online accounts (banking, webmail) for suspicious activity.
• Be cautious about sharing personal information online (never share credit card or bank details online in emails, instant messages etc)

Share this information with friends and contacts so that people will not be affected by this bug!

The post Heartbleed – the biggest security threat in recent years explained appeared first on Aoife Rigney Digital Marketing.

Embracing technology is fantastic for so many reasons – keeping in touch with friends and family all over the world, marketing a business, entertaining us with viral videos and Snapchats and educating us.

However, are we logging off enough? Living in a digital world impacts your time and energy. Do we all need to log off and have a regular but brief digital detox…?

In a recent Irish survey, over 43% of people asked said that checking social media is the last thing they do every night before they go to sleep. It would be an interesting statistic to see how many of us sleep with our phone under our pillow! Because the internet is so easily accessible, often sitting in our pocket all day, it’s not surprising that many of us spend time online purely out of habit. Isn’t everyone? Checking e-mail in the bathroom and sleeping with your cell phone by your bed are now considered normal. Four hours out every 20 hours spent online, are actually spent on Facebook! In fact, over 20% of people admitted to checking their phones every ten minutes.

If modern technology means we can be connected anywhere, anytime then how do we switch off? There are clear benefits to be derived from the ubiquity of technology in our daily lives, but if mobile phones, constant internet access and multiple social media accounts mean we’re always on call then can we switch off? And how… Simply unplug!

Join Aoife Rigney on March 7th for the National Day of Unplugging, designed to help hyper-connected people of all backgrounds to embrace the ancient ritual of a day of rest. On Friday, take some time to unplug. You choose how long and when! Sign the #Unplug pledge  and tweet using #Unplug to spread the word that you’re logging off!

If you don’t know what this day is about, it is a day when the hyper-connected take a pledge to spend and enjoy the simpler things in life. Think of it as a digital detox day where you get your nose out of your smartphone and into more tangible things that can provide you with long-term satisfaction. If you can’t spend a full 24 hours offline, then perhaps you could take a few hours, or even an hour.

While you are offline this Friday, perhaps you could do something you’ve been meaning to do for ages? Read that book, go to the cinema or maybe spend the day working without social media notifications, emails and hours browsing the web.

Logout… Unplug … Switch off… Relax!

Do you accept the National Day of Unplugging challenge? Will you join us and sign the Unplug Pledge this Friday? Let us know what you think and how long you pledge to stay offline this National Day of Unplugging by using #Unplug

The post National #Unplug Day appeared first on Aoife Rigney Digital Marketing.

It’s important that businesses realise that they need to do some planning and have a strategy before jumping in and posting random updates on Facebook and Twitter! If brands are going to be successful using social media to boost their businesses, a social media strategy is key. People often get blinded by the excitement of having new social media accounts like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, LinkedIn and YouTube that they do not realise they need to plan, set goals and measure results to be successful.

Digital marketing is a constant process. Building a website is just the beginning; keeping it updated with good quality interesting content is the challenge! Sending an email marketing campaign at Christmas is great, but why not send one more regularly and build up that relationship with your readers?

One of the things I do for my clients is creating detailed digital marketing and social media strategy and marketing plans for their business. So, I want to share some tips that I think will help you build your social media strategy:

1. Choose the best platforms for your business:
   If you are a small business with very little resources then maybe consider using one social media platform and do it well. Remember, it is better to be really good at one social media site than be weak on many! Consistency and quality matter more than being on each and every social media platform. Pick one or two social media channels and do them well first and then you can add in more as you go. If you only have time to manage one social media site, you might consider focusing in on Facebook. It is the largest social media site with 1.1 billion users and that is probably reason enough to pick Facebook if you only have time to manage one site.
2. Allocate the resources required:
   Setting up a Facebook page, twitter account or Pinterest profile is the easy part. After that you have to create and post great content, grow your community, engage with your audience, support other people’s communities, keep up with site changes, etc. Who is going to be responsible for these platforms?
3. Set goals and choose a Timeframe: 
   When I ask people about their goals for social media, I usually get one of two answers; “More Sales” or “Ehm, well everyone else is using Facebook so I kind of felt I should too”.
   You need goals so that your social media marketing is focused and effective. I recommend starting with big, wide reaching goals first and then breaking those bigger goals down into smaller pieces and establishing performance benchmarks and timelines for each piece. So, here is an example. A business I met with recently said ”I want to use Facebook to boost my business”. How do you know if social media is working? Instead, I suggested to the client that they aim to “develop a Facebook strategy to drive 50 new potential customers to my online store in the next 3 months”. Automatically their focus was on marketing activities and a social media strategy to support that goal.
4. Carry out real time analysis:
   By measuring and analyzing your social media marketing efforts in real-time, you will track overall progress to your larger goals. However, it also highlights what is working and what is not. By knowing what isn’t working, you can make the necessary adjustments and do more of what IS working!
5. Create a content calendar as part of your content strategy:
   My rule of thumb is the 80:20 rule. 80% of your content should be interesting, useful, relative to your brand but entertaining and so on. The other 20% of your content can be promotional material – although I would also be cautious about how you word promotional posts. If you post promotional updates more than 20% of the time, people will consider you a “spammer” or push marketer and will either unlike your Facebook page, unfollow you on Twitter or worse still stop shopping with you! So, what are you going to post the other 80% – 90% of the time? The answer is things that are interesting, motivational, funny, useful or otherwise have VALUE to your community. How often are you going to post? What times of the day and days of the week are you going to post? A content strategy and plan answers all of these questions!
6. Develop your brand’s tone of voice:
   Work on figuring out your rand’s persona, tone, purpose and language.
7. Carry out regular analysis:
   Use tools such as Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, Twitter analytics or other tools like Hootsuite, SocialBro, Raven etc. Monitor social media activity by keeping track of activity, influence and interactions. Other metrics worth monitoring include downloads, installs, views, clicks, sign ups and traffic referrals. Don’t forget to monitor strategic objective metrics such as sales, customer service and brand awareness.
8. Be social, be fun, take risks and do more:
   While being informative is hugely important for a brand to communicate their message to consumers, it’s also important to remember that people use social media in order to be entertained and informed.

Do you have a social media strategy in place? If so, what works best for you? Do you schedule posts and tweets?

Download the Social Media Strategy Presentation for FREE

The post 8 Tips for Creating a Social Media Strategy appeared first on Aoife Rigney Digital Marketing.